Into the Wild the Spectacular Landscapes Around Kars Beckon Birdwatchers, Nature- Lovers and History Buffs
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Unlike their avian counterparts, few human visitors to Travel Turkey make it as far as Kars. Kars city The 12 Apostles Church (Kümbet Mosque) near the Kars Castle Into the wild The spectacular landscapes around Kars beckon birdwatchers, nature- lovers and history buffs. Words and photography by Jennifer Hattam can feel the small bird trembling as I tents. Delicate purple crocuses and running field research stations have Sarıkamış Forest hold it in my cupped hands and walk bright red poppies – the colour of the spotted more than two-thirds of all Ioutside the weathered metal trailer traditional bridal veil that gives them the bird species recorded in Turkey. so to see the haunting ruins of Ani, to release it. Bits of feathers explode their Turkish name, gelincik – burst an important trading stop on the Silk off its back as it hurriedly takes flight from the earth. And thousands of Russian and Armenian heritage Road and the 10th-century capital in the crisp, clean air of remote north- migratory birds stop over at Kuyucuk Unlike their avian counterparts, few of a medieval Armenian kingdom. east Turkey. Lake and the Aras River wetlands, human visitors to Turkey make it as Unfortunately, there’s no easy way Inside the trailer, Sedat blows where local environmentalists far as Kars. Most who do come do to travel the 42km to Ani without a gently on the underside of a private car, though a municipality-run penduline tit, ruffling the bird’s shuttle service is scheduled to start feathers back from its belly to reveal this summer. But the trip is well worth a tiny round bulge beneath the skin. the effort and the expense. ‘It’s going to be a mother,’ he says Imposing basalt walls bring an end with a smile. to a long, rutted road that passes The area around Kars has a through tiny villages, seemingly bleak reputation, in part due to little changed since Ani’s heyday. Orhan Pamuk’s dark portrayal in Beyond the massive main gate, his acclaimed novel, ‘Snow’. And stone churches, palaces, mosques, while winters are indeed harsh, caravanserais and hamams rise with up to four months of snow and up out of the overgrown grass like temperatures plummeting as low islands in the sea. Down in a steep as -40˚C, the vast landscape of high canyon, what’s left of an ancient plateaus and green lowlands vividly bridge hangs over the Aras River comes to life in the spring. separating Turkey and Armenia, Foals and calves totter on shaky its impassable state reflecting the legs in lush mountain meadows closed border between the two where nomadic herders pitch their Ruins of Ani neighbours. 116 Time Out Istanbul March 2012 Despite the ongoing rift, the TRAVEL BASICS Caucasus influence remains strong Regular flights from Istanbul, Kars’ queen bee in the region’s cuisine, architecture Ankara and Izmir land at Kars and culture. Like other Turkish cities, Airport, 10km from the city centre. Kars has more than its share of An attractive boutique hotel in an A Colorado native, Catherine Jaffee turns to an multicoloured concrete blocks, but old Russian mansion, the Kar’s Otel ancient trade to help local women gain employment they are interspersed with stately (0474 212 16 16, www.karsotel. Russian buildings made of large, com) is the best pick of the finely cut dark stones. The landmark somewhat-limited lodging options. Fethiye Mosque was once a Russian Its newly opened Kar’s Store Orthodox church, its onion domes restaurant offers good local food, later swapped out for minarets. Both wine, live music and folk dancing. the Kars Castle looming above town The Hotel Temel (Yenipazar and the Sarıkamış ski area some Caddesi No. 9, 0474 223 13 76) is 50km south-west of the city were the a cheaper, more basic alternative. scenes of fierce fighting during World The women-run Kamer Vakfı War I, claiming many Russian and Mutfak ve Café (Halit Paşa Caddesi Turkish lives. No. 97, 0474 212 89 57) serves Remnants of an even older Kars excellent homemade specialties reveal themselves on the slope such as hengel, a type of mantı leading up to the castle, where the (Turkish ravioli); kesme aşı, a green 10th-century 12 Apostles Church lentil soup with noodles and mint; Catherine Jaffee with (Kümbet Mosque) has retained its and warm, almost ginger-bready her village ‘anne’ (mother) distinctive Armenian architecture helva. Goose is another favourite despite being converted back and hen I first quit my job to move to Kars, Turkey, almost every person I forth to serve both Christian and local dish. Muslim worshippers over the years. The Turkish-language Wmet would ask me: why would you ever move to a rural place like Kars? Crumbling Seljuk and Ottoman online Kars City Guide (www. At first I could tell by their looks that they were suspicious. Are you here to hamams cluster around Kars karskentrehberi.com) gives a very write a book? Are you here to study politics and the Armenian issue? Are you Stream and the 16th-century Taş thorough overview of the area’s a spy, an agent, a fraud? With Turkey’s beautiful seas, massive west coast Köprü (Stone Bridge) at the base history, culture and sightseeing tourism industry and Istanbul, why, why, why would you ever go to Kars and, of the castle hill, an area now full of opportunities. gasp, stay? laidback tea gardens. ‘I am here to study honey,’ I would reply confidently. HOW TO VOLUNTEER Immediately, their faces would shift. Anyone who really knows Turkish New tourism initiatives Each spring and fall, the honey understands that north-eastern Turkey has one of the most Long reliant on Ani, the castle and conservation group KuzeyDoğa established beekeeping and honey traditions on earth. It is the birthplace skiing at Sarıkamış to attract visitors, Society operates bird research of the original Caucasian bee, with an ancient trade culture around honey Kars is now awakening to its full stations at two wetland areas near and local products spanning hundreds of years back to the Silk Road. tourism potential. Last year, the Kars. Some 200 volunteers from Co-evolving with the endemic bee population are over 2,000 local flower house of famous Turkish poet Namık 20 different countries have spent species – resulting in a floral blend of so many different honey flavours, it is Kemal was converted into a cultural two weeks or more helping watch, a wonder to think that wine tasting – in which 75 percent of wines are made centre devoted to keeping alive the count and band (ring) birds at the from one grape type – has dominated most tasting adventures instead. aşık (minstrel) tradition of storytelling Kuyucuk and Aras stations. Both The market opportunity of honey tasting in a place like north-eastern through song. New guided tours facilities are located in peaceful, Turkey is substantial: a unique culinary travel experience that is show the city through the eyes beautiful rural areas, affording environmental, family-friendly and offered nowhere else. Its greatest of Pamuk, the Russian author opportunities to hike, swim and potential, however, lies in how it can shift circumstances for local women to Alexander Pushkin and the Greek- relax in between checking nets, become rural entrepreneurs. Armenian writer George Gurdjieff, collecting data and banding birds. My team and I are starting Balyolu: The Honey Road to do just this. We three famous figures who have No experience is necessary, are the first honey tasting walking tour of its kind, led and inspired by women depicted Kars in their literary works. though licensed ringers are in high in north-eastern Turkey. More than 10 million women live in rural parts of With some of the country’s demand. Conditions are basic, Turkey, and although the country has one of the world’s lowest employment most spectacular and biodiverse meals hearty and the scenery rates for women (22 percent), women are working full-time (albeit unpaid) landscapes right in Kars’ backyard, unparalleled. This year’s spring while they care for their large families and run small family farms. But nature tourism is also gaining ground activities run between March 15 in these remote villages, they are cut off from the city centres, so there as a way to draw more people to the and early June. Contact KuzeyDoğa are limited opportunities to translate this labour into income, education region without spoiling it. Homestays (0474 212 38 84, www. opportunities or professional development. are available in the nearby village kuzeydoga.org) for details. Organic beekeeping, particularly in rural, untouched areas such as of Boğatepe, where a new cheese north-eastern Turkey, is an ideal livelihood for women because women are museum celebrates traditional stable (and therefore not moving their bees into areas with harmful crops products such as the hard yellow or pesticides) and beekeeping can be done right in their backyards without Kars gravyer and the unusual local taking away too much time from raising a family. In a place like Turkey – cecil, which tastes like a cross where the word ‘organic’ does not yet have a clear, quantifiable meaning, between string cheese and blue where these rural villages are isolated from local markets, where producing cheese. organic honey yields small amounts, where most of the women beekeepers The Kars-based conservation we are targeting (those at the bottom of the pyramid) do not have an organisation KuzeyDoğa is setting education past the sixth grade – it is hard for them to compete in a domestic up a visitor and environmental market full of honey. education centre near its field Kuyucuk Lake, the site of one of By subsidising honey production with compelling nomadic travel station at bucolic Kuyucuk Lake, KuzeyDoğa Society’s bird research a birdwatcher’s paradise.